I was raised in a very active house. 4 kids, a high energy mom and a dad that traveled every week. Exercise, movement and adventure was how we passed our time. We hiked, swam, went to parks, bike rides, all the things! I even had my high school boyfriend be afraid to come to dinner because he thought my mom would make him do sit-ups for his meal!
My mom taught aerobics. Like 1990’s version of aerobics. Dare I say she rocked a thong leotard and leggings with her perm and scrunchy socks, hoping I am creating a visual. I remember sitting in the club outside the fitness room watching her teach. A belt attached to her like a fanny pack and the headset combo in full effect. I think her playlists were more along the lines of Michael Bolton and Wilson Philips than SICKO MODE and JLo, but that was a result of the times.
As I am now almost exactly the age she was when she taught, here I am teaching classes myself. My kids help me create playlists, I run EVERY workout by my husband (and then usually ignore any feedback he has, what does he know! Ha!) and you can usually find one or all of my boys at the barn (along with my mom) on Sunday Fam Jam talking or hanging out in the social room. I honestly never, ever thought that I would follow in my mom’s footsteps and be a fitness instructor, but here I am.
Our ability to move is a gift. One I sense is at times, taken for granted.
Last week my mom was diagnosed with a form of Muscular Dystrophy at 63. 6 years ago, she was walking up the stairs with groceries in her arms when she felt that she didn’t have the power in her legs that she had always had. That moment began the journey of discovery around her limitations in movement and lead her to get the testing that she did last week. Her doctor told her that her natural active lifestyle has delayed any onset of immobility and her determination could keep any more progress at bay. She had no idea that who she is as a human and her always active lifestyle, will play such an important part to this challenge she now faces.
Movement is a choice we make everyday. We all have different ways we choose to move, but one thing is for certain, this collective shares a strong love and passion for movement. There are days some of us don’t really feel like moving, yet we get in the car and drive to Beau Co, do a few flair jax, maybe some touchdowns and from there we move. We move as one or we move in stations. We push movement with one another throughout class, during team challenges and then we all move to the social room where we coffee, cocktail and connect about it all. Then most of us leave the doors and go ski, run, bike, dog walk… the meaumentum is real.
My mom, Mary, chooses movement. She always has but now she moves for a different reason, a different motivation.
Let’s keep choosing to move, our ability to move is truly a gift.